


Cat boy Tommy but he’s a shapeshifter with trust issues

by eclipsewatcher103



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: All of SBI have shapeshifter abilities! POG!, I may add more characters later if people end up liking this so we’ll see, Piglin Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF), Siren Wilbur Soot, Winged Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), shapeshifter!phil, shapeshifter!tommy, shapeshifter!tommyinnit, sleepy bois inc - Freeform, tommy has trust issues at first
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:42:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 7,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28494789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eclipsewatcher103/pseuds/eclipsewatcher103
Summary: Tommy is a shapeshifter, who hasn’t changed from being a cat for at least five years. After some... not so great experiences of telling people about his abilities, he decides it’s better to just keep it under wraps, and not shift. Ever.But then Wilbur picks him up off the streets, and everything changes.
Relationships: Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), TommyInnit & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit
Comments: 126
Kudos: 1568





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Second fic! First one went pretty well, so I decided to post this one. I’ve had it on the notes app for a while, and is probably one of my favorite aus I’ve made. Also, this is totally just procrastination for a hermit!tommy fic I’ve promised on tumblr.  
> Enjoy!

It wasn’t Wilbur’s fault that the cat in his passenger seat looked hungry.  
It looked downright starved, but that was beside the point.  
The point was that Wilbur couldn’t help himself when he saw a pitiful cat on the side of the road.  
Its fur was brown, but there was so much dirt that it could be any color.  
It’s eyes were blue, a shade of the color that was so sharp that it looked strange on a cat.  
Wilbur had already checked for a collar, he figured that once the cat was better they could take it to the vet and look for a chip.  
The cat was so cute, he hoped that he could get it back to its owners.  
Rain was beating against his windows as he pulled up the driveway of the Sleepy Bois Incorporated HQ, a small house a couple minutes drive from town. Wilbur took out the keys and turned to the cat, who was pressed up against the door away from Wilbur. He winced at the way it’s claws poked the leather seats.  
“Well, little kitty, I’m gonna need you to work with me on this, okay?”  
The cat didn’t respond. If it wasn’t breathing heavily, he would have thought it was a statue.  
Wilbur held his hands up so they were clearly visible, and slowly reached for the backseat. There was a blanket back there, maybe he could wrap the cat to pick it up? It’d save him and his sweater.  
The cat eyed him warily, and didn’t move its gaze from the hand holding the blanket. He shh’d it. Why was he doing that? Did that actually work? They did it on the animal shows he watched with Phil, it had to work a little. The cat let out a sound from the back of its throat, and he stopped for a moment to let it calm down. When it ceased its demonic growling, he gently set the blanket in front of it. He patted the cloth. “Surely this blanket is more comfortable than the seat?” He kept his voice low and comforting. The cat seemed to actually calm down at this, so he softly smiled and kept murmuring comforts. The cat stepped onto the blanket, and let out a tiny purr. Wilbur did a little victory dance in his head. Him! Wimblur Scoot, just did that! All by himself!  
He began to lift the blanket.  
“It’s okay,” he soothed. “Just taking you inside. It’s nice and warm in there, and as many blankets as you want.” Wilbur knew that cats couldn’t understand English, but this one brightened up at the word ‘blankets’. He blinked. That was strange. Maybe it knew the word from a previous owner? “It’s okay, you’re okay, maybe want some food? You look very skinny.” He nodded slowly and began to exit the car with the cat held against his chest, all swaddled up in the soft pink blanket.  
He opened the front door with one hand, and nudged it closed with his hip.  
He came to the couch, and sat down. Both techno and Phil weren’t home yet, so he didn’t have to worry too much about introducing the cat to strangers. Once the blanket was on the couch, he pulled his hands out from under it. Wilbur let the cat sniff his fingers, before scratching the cats head softly. It leaned into his hand with a purr. His heart melted.  
It was a little gross though, as dirt was literally coming off of the cat and onto his hand. He didn’t know where this cat had been. It could have been in the sewers!  
He retracted his hand with a soft laugh.  
“Would you be okay with me giving you a bath, little kitty? You’re very dirty, and I want to keep petting you.” The cat-oh sky gods- the cat actually nodded. Was he going insane? Hopefully not. That would be rain on his parade. Wilbur picked up the blanket again and went for the ground floor bathroom, which had the only bathtub in the house. He could use the shower, but that would probably result in an upset cat and a soaked Wilbur. The bath it was, then.  
He opened the door and plopped the cat on the counter, before kneeling in front of the bath. He fiddled with the settings for a moment before the water was at a temperature he liked, and turned to pick up the cat.  
It was gone.  
Luckily the door was shut, so there were only so many places it could be-  
Oh sky gods have mercy on him the door was open.  
Wilbur ran a hand through his hair. Of all the stray cats he could’ve picked up, why did it have to be the one that nodded and opened doors?  
He poked his head through the door.  
“Kitty kitty? Where are you?”  
The cat came trotting down the hallway, leaving behind little paw-prints of dirt. He sighed. “Come here, kitty.” He opened his arms. He didn’t expect the cat to actually jump up, as it had just met him, but as usual it kept surprising him. Now it sat in one of his arms while the other was looking under the cabinet for soap he could use on an animal. The cat stretched up its neck and nuzzled its face against the bottom of his chin, and he chuckled.  
“Cute little thing,”  
He found a very old cat soap from Phil’s old cat, daisy. Daisy had been dead for a long time, so he figured it wouldn’t offend her spirit if he used it.  
He set the cat in the tub, and filled a cup with water to pour over it.  
As he kept going, he saw that the cat was actually a sandy color, with a darker brown around its paws and muzzle. The cat, surprisingly, didn’t seem to mind the water.  
He figured it was time he stopped calling it ‘The cat’ and ‘it’, so he lifted it up, much to the cats apparent dismay. Once he set him back down, he booped the cats nose.  
“Well hello mr. kitty. What should I call you?” He pondered for a moment as he turned off the water and rubbed the cat dry with a towel. The cat meowed and pawed up at the pink blanket. Wilbur rolled his eyes and returned it to the cat, who picked it up in his mouth and happily trotted towards the living room. He followed the cat, and came to a decision.  
“I’m going to call you tom. Like tomcat. Aren’t I clever?” If cats could roll their eyes, Wilbur was sure Tom would be doing so. “Well Tom, the rest of my family is coming home soon, so what do you think about some food?” Tom purred as Wilbur opened the fridge. “If we had any kind of fish I’d get you that, but everyone here hates fish.” Wilbur reached his arm in. If he was right, there should be some perfectly good- “found it!” He held the packaged chicken breast triumphantly. “Give me a little while and I’ll have it nice and cooked up for you.”  
Tom jumped up onto the counter and flicked his tail. He was still purring, so Wilbur assumed he was content.  
Thirty minutes later had him laying on the couch while he watched a movie, with Tom sitting on his chest. The cat was full, and therefore, much more open to affection. Occasionally he would reach up and scratch behind the cat’s ears, until Tom got annoyed and would paw at his face. Eventually he fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2: electric boogaloo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is pretty much a filler chapter so it’s shorter, I promise later chapters will probs be longer. I just need some extra time to pad out some plot stuff (yes there’s plot and angst coming be prepared) that I haven’t fully figured out yet, but I wanted to give y’all some content.   
> Come scream at me on tumblr: gurtlikesdreamsmp

When Phil came home, he wasn’t expecting to see a cat playing with the remote, actually managing to change channels until it landed on one with the movie Up playing. The cat seemed... content? And sat back onto his sleeping son’s chest. Gods, it was actually watching the movie. The cat heard him come in, and turned to look at him. Phil froze when the cat began to growl, and he put his hands up in the universal sign of surrender.   
“Hey, uh, hello?”  
The cat leapt at him and he screamed.

When techno came home, he hadn’t known he would find Phil looking like he’d been cornered in an alleyway by mice with swords while he tried to coerce a cat down from the top of the pantry, with his brother asleep on the couch.   
Techno sighed. What else had he expected? A normal day in the Watson household? Surely not. 

After what the family dubbed ‘the Incident’, Tom found himself unwillingly settling in.   
He shouldn’t be here. It’d only been a few days, and he was already getting too used to things around the household.   
Tom lashed his tail. While he didn’t like getting comfortable in new places, he had to admit he could use it.   
He was forced to see how difficult it was sometimes to come up with the words for certain things. In simple terms, he’d been on the streets in cat form for so long he’d been forgetting.   
Words like couch, and kitchen, and one that made him gag. Family.   
Tom shuddered. To be honest, he’d be completely fine forgetting that one, if it came with forgetting his birth family. They were shit, the lot of em, and if he forgot what they put him through he’d celebrate.   
Sadly, they always say bad memories are easier to remember than the good ones.   
So, he decided he’d only be there for a few more days, but only to get free food and relearn a few words. 

Tom stayed for much longer than he meant to. 

So maybe staying two weeks was longer than he’d wanted, but the family was just so nice. That bath, even though he might not willingly do that again, was pretty cool. The tall one had even gotten that clump of dirt that had been stuck behind his ear. And he’d even learned their names, so he was inevitably beginning to get attached, as one does when they learn the name of a cute animal.   
But the Watson family were not cute animals, they were a wild pack of little shits.   
Wilbur was the tallest of the three, and he played music. Tom would often get shut out from Wilbur’s room when he played, as he would yowl along with the notes. He was mildly offended. He was just trying to sing along!   
While Wilbur was the most refined, Wilbur was also a goblin, talking about eating sand and his hatred of anteaters. (When Wilbur had the talk with Phil about anteaters, tom couldn’t help but nod along to his points. Wilbur was entirely correct, and Phil was plain wrong.)  
Techno was an introvert, to put it simply. The man spent a lot of time in his room, and when he did come out, he didn’t talk much.   
He would also stare off into space a lot, like he always had something on his mind.   
Techno had a dry sense of humor, and was quick to fire back with quips that made even Tom have to hold back laughter.   
Of course, if he did laugh in cat form it would just sound like he had a hairball stuck in his throat, and that was embarrassing, so he refrained from laughing.   
The pink-haired man also fenced. Tom hadn’t realized until he’d wandered into technos room and saw a few swords hanging on the wall.   
Occasionally techno would fake spar with him, which was basically just techno holding out a foil at cat height and lettin Tom swat at it.   
Phil was an enigma. He was so caring of his sons, but was also surprisingly chaotic.   
The entire family played Minecraft, and Tommy watched at one point as Phil dunked someone in lava when they asked for food.   
The caring side was more prominent, thankfully. While he might burn someone for asking for food in a video game, Tom had the man wrapped around his paw. One little mew with some wide eyes and he had a small handful of treats in his face.   
He took advantage of this far too often.  
They were all strange and chaotic in their own ways, and Tom admired them for it.   
Didn’t stop him from being a little shit, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 730 words  
> The next chapter might also be a bit filler, I’m not quite sure yet. Also, I don’t have a set update schedule, so expect a chapter about once a week?


	3. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom decides not to peel back layers of trauma, all while a dear friend goes missing. All missing humans show up eventually, whoever it is will just pop up again, right?

Tom knew something had happened.   
In between being as annoying as possible, he listened in on conversations to learn more about the people he was staying with.   
He’d decided that for now he’d stay, but it was on thin ice. He had to be skittish, it was the only thing that kept him alive.   
Tom also knew that whatever had happened wasn’t good. The family didn’t talk about it much, but when they did it was dark words coated with humor. Some form of trauma, he guessed. Although Tom didn’t admit it often, he also used humor to cover some of the darker things that had happened to him. Of course there wasn’t anyone he actually said these things to, but it would occasionally get a chuckle out of him. 

While Tom knew the family had been through something, it took a bit for himself to admit he’d been through some tough stuff, too.   
It was hard to admit those things, at least, so he wasn’t too abnormal. As long as you rule out being a shapeshifter, he was as normal as any other person.   
He hated sitting in the middle of rooms. No matter where he was, there was always something behind him he couldn’t see.   
He stuck to corners after Wilbur had snuck up on him during the first few days of his stay.

Tom had been having a good day, and now he was laying over the top of the couch. Something inside of him screamed at having his back exposed, but the top of the couch was the only spot the sun shone on, and he was cold.   
His priorities weren’t in the best order, but whatever.   
He practically jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand on his back.   
Tom stumbled off the couch and landed on the floor, skidding with frantic paws to the corner of the living room.   
“Shit,” said a voice. Tom focused his eyes to see Wilbur staring down at him in concern. His chest heaved when Wilbur moved closer, and he let out a little growl. Wilbur stilled. “Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” The man held up his hands and Tom relaxed a little and forced himself to look around the room before focusing on Wilbur’s hands. No white walls, no tiles, no scalpels, no needles. He was safe, he just needed a moment to remind himself. 

He stuck to corners, and he knows Wilbur had told the other members of the family, because they tended to give him a wide berth and announced themselves.   
It helped, and forced him to remember that not everyone was cruel.   
Well... his parents hadn’t been cruel, just scared, and lost-   
Nope! Not thinking about that.  
Tom stood up from his corner and trotted down the hall, nudging open Wilbur’s door. He needed a distraction. 

A day later, he was sitting on his Prime Path (Tom had decided he had a favorite person when Phil screwed a bunch of boards high on the wall to make a path, even if that favoritism was quickly beat out by Wilbur getting him catnip) and waiting to do an air strike.   
There was no need whatsoever to do air strikes, but it was fun to listen to the family squawk when he landed on their shoulders. 

Wilbur came through the doorway and Tom prepared to drop down, until Wilbur let out a deep sigh. Something was wrong. The man flopped down on the couch and ran a hand down his face.   
Tom tilted his head, and jumped down from the Prime Path to rub against wilburs legs.   
Wilbur moved his fingers just enough to see Tom.   
“Hey...” he whispered. “Where’ve you been?” Tom purred, trying to be comforting. Wilbur sighed again. “Fuck...”   
Tom flattened his ears and trotted off down the hall towards Phil’s office. He didn’t fully trust the family yet, but he had the decency to make sure Wilbur was feeling okay.   
He nudged the office door open and tugged on Phil’s pant leg with his teeth.   
Phil looked down at him.   
“Heya Tom. You hungry?” Tom shook his head aggressively as he pulled on the pant leg, not unlike a dog.  
He let go of Phil’s pants and ran to the door, looking back over his shoulder to make sure the man was following him.   
When they came back into the living room, Phil saw Wilbur and rushed forward.   
“Wil! Are you okay?”   
“Fundy’s gone missing.”  
Tom had no idea who ‘Fundy’ was, but they were obviously important to Wilbur.   
“Really?” Phil murmured. “Was he...” Wilbur nods.   
“Taken.”  
“Ah.”   
They fell into silence, and Tom moved forward and butted his head into Wilbur’s leg. It’s okay. He still has his jumpy moments, but no one should go through that worry.   
When he looked closer, he could see something more than just worry in their eyes. Tom ignored it, going to bat around one of his toys in the corner. Surely it was fine, it was probably just some human thing they were worried about. ‘Fundy’ would probably just pop up again like most missing humans.  
It took him a moment to remember he was still human too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took a little longer, so I just Frankenstein’d two drafts together and called it a day, sorry if it’s messy.  
> Come scream at me on tumblr: gurtlikesdreamsmp


	4. Sort of a teaser

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a blurb showing a new character! I will not tell you who this person is until he shows up in the main story for the first time.  
> Obviously this ones shorter, and it’s posted a day after the most recent chapter. I got excited, and I have a chapter ready for next week.  
> Enjoy!

He was minding his business: he’d just finished his last cover-up of the day, and was ready to leave and crash in his room. He walked through the halls, absentmindedly counting today’s earnings.  
A few pieces of what had previously been a chain-link fence, a couple bottle caps, some pebbles, and his favorite so far, sea glass.  
With the facility’s layout, he had to take so many turns he had to check he hadn’t gone in a circle.  
He sighed as he reached his door, and moved to open it until he heard the rattling of a cart. Looks like they’d caught another one. He wondered if they had anything valuable on them.  
He turned to see something he did not expect.  
“Fundy?” He asked. Fundy had escaped years back, what was he doing here again? Fundy knew how to not be caught, what happened?  
The fox had a muzzle over his mouth, and couldn’t respond in anything more than small yips.  
He watched as the cart passed his door, and he sighed. Just another day at the facility, he supposed. Maybe if Fundy had some bottle caps or something he could help the fox escape.  
Of course, he’d give a discount. He held Fundy close to his heart, as he’d been the one to teach the suddenly sentient fox English.  
He pushed his glasses further up his nose. He’d get Fundy out. Even if he had to do a job for free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I’m excited to see who you guys think this new character is.  
> Come scream at me on tumblr: gurtlikesdreamsmp


	5. Backstory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some backstory on Wilbur and the meeting of Phil Wilbur and Techno.   
> Also another sneak peak at the “mystery character” but I made it so obvious I’m sure everyone will know who it is.  
> In this Wilbur is around 13-14, so it’s a while before the main story, where he’s 23.

Wilbur floated through his tank, letting the sand flow down his fingers. Gods it was boring in here. He kicked his legs so that he was at the top of the tank, and lay his arms over the edge. It was a tease at freedom, having his arms out there, but even if he managed to haul himself over the edge, he wouldn’t be able to walk properly and would probably be shot within a few moments.   
All in all, it wasn’t worth it. He’d rather keep his life, even if that meant he was stuck in a tank that wasn’t nearly big enough for him.   
Wilbur let a few clicks out, just to pass the time. He wished he could chirp, could trill, could sing. He wasn’t allowed to sing, because when he did the blinking lights didn’t come back for a few days. The blinking lights meant food.   
He wanted food. He was hungry.   
Yesterday the only thing he’d gotten was a strange painful injection that had made him bounce off the walls for a few hours.   
The blinking lights turned on, and Wilbur let himself dive back into the tank to do a few loops and spins. He popped his lips a couple of times.   
He fell still when a man wearing a white coat entered the room. The people who brought food never wore white coats.   
The man climbed up a ladder and tipped over a bucket, and Wilbur watched as a armful of strange flakes fell out. They hit the water silently and floated down in front of him.   
Wilbur tilted his head. Were they playing a game with him? They blinked the lights and then dumped flakes in his tank?   
He stuck his head forward and sniffed the flakes. They smelled like food... but when he swiped some into his mouth, they had no substance. No chew. Just... flakes. They didn’t even taste good. He chirped quietly and stared at the man on the other side of the glass. The man turned and left, and the blinking lights returned to normal.   
Wilbur didn’t eat any more of the flakes that day, too confused to have a proper appetite. 

The next day he ate the flakes, if only out of sheer desperation. 

The day after that he had sunk to the bottom of his tank. He watched idly as someone outside his cell talked with another creatures, and Wilbur watched with astonishment as the person outside the cell pulled something out of their side to hand to the creatures.   
And no, not out of a side pocket, out of the side of his body.   
Wilbur watched, and he learned. 

He learned that the man would come once a week, and the creatures in the cells on the other side of the hall would hand the man strange metal or junk, and the man would give something in return.   
Sometimes the man would even open the doors, and the creatures would run.  
He wished he could run.

Wilbur had lost track of the days, but he waited until the flakes had come and gone, and waited until the strange half and half man came back to the cell across from his.   
Once the man was preparing to leave, Wilbur knocked against the glass. The man turned, and started speaking at him. Wilbur couldn’t understand the words, but he was very good at sensing tone. The man seemed nice, and didn’t have any underlying tones of malice in his voice.   
Wilbur hauled the top half of his body over the edge of the tank and gestured to the man, and then to himself in an eating motion.   
The man nodded, and held out a hand.   
Ah, Wilbur remembered this. He needed to give the man something as payment.   
He floated down to the bottom of the tank and swiped up a handful of sea glass.   
He reached over the edge and dropped the shards into the man’s palm, watching as the man seemed very happy with the payment.   
The man reached into the white side of his body and pulled out a-   
Okay, maybe Wilbur had been expecting some food, nothing special, but he almost shrieked in delight when the man pulled out an entire cooked bird! If a handful of sea glass could get him food like this, he’d eat like a king!   
Wilbur reached over the edge and grabbed the bird, pulling it close and devouring it in a few short bites, his sharp teeth making quick work of it.   
The man seemed shocked at how fast he’d eaten it, but held his hand to his forehead in a strange gesture and walked away down the hall. 

He continued to have these exchanges with the man until the Nice Man broke him out.   
The Nice Man didn’t have a proper name yet, but Wilbur was trying to learn their language.   
The Nice Man had rushed past his tank with another child under his arm, probably not too much younger that Wilbur was. The boy had a snout! He looked like one of those strange creatures that would come by the beach every now and then, back when he’d lived in the ocean.  
Wilbur perked up when he saw the man, and chirped out. They looked free, and even if they were caught again he couldn’t help but long for a few minutes out of his tank.   
The man had huge, gray and white things poking out of his back, like a bird. Wilbur could only assume they were wings.   
The Nice Man looked up at him, and tilted his head.   
Wilbur hauled himself up over the edge of the tank, and reached out a hand, hoping to be pulled out. Of course, the man would have to open the door to get to him... but Wilbur could hope!   
He smiled brightly when the man pulled a strange disc out of his pocket. Wilbur knew what these were! The men in the coats used those to open doors!   
The Nice Man opened the door and grabbed his hand, pulling him over the top of the tank. Wilbur stumbled, and fell into the man. His legs were great at swimming, but he hadn’t gotten the hang of walking yet, despite the coated’s best efforts.  
The Nice man seemed to notice this, and found a way to pull Wilbur up and over his shoulder.   
As the man began to run, Wilbur reached forward and brushed his hand against the wings, feeling the feathers beneath his webbed fingers.   
He clicked his tongue a few times. The feathers were very soft, and dry, unlike anything in his tank.  
Wilbur froze when the Nice man clicked his tongue in response.   
It sounded like something the man was made to do, unlike when the white coats tried to replicate the noise. The white coats attempts sounded strange and forced, but when the nice man did it they sounded like he’d been doing them his whole life.   
Wilbur trilled softly. He knew they weren’t the same, but they were close enough. He wasn’t alone.   
He had to shut his eyes when they seemingly left the building, because the sun was hurting his eyes. It’d been so long since he’d seen anything that bright, not counting the lights the white coats used.   
He pushed aside the fear of being punished and trilled loudly. The Nice man laughed, and repeated with a similar noise.   
Wilbur smiled. He was free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!   
> Come scream at me on tumblr: gurtlikesdreamsmp  
> If anyone wants me to add word counts to chapters I can, just let me know!  
> I had a lot of fun with this chapter, I managed to hammer a majority of it out in a few hours.


	6. Fun times and bad dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting this chapter a day or two early as a celebration for 10K!!! Thank you guys so much!!!  
> Sorry if the chapter looks strange, I used rich text instead of HTML so I could get italics, and I’ve never used the rich text

Wilbur had to forcibly tug his hand away from his mouth. He kept chewing on his nails, a bad habit that he’d gotten rid of years back. He was sitting in his room, ear frills out and open for the world to see. Wilbur wasn’t self conscious of them, per say, they just reminded him of his past, and he didn’t really like thinking about it. He slid a black silicone ring off his right middle finger to fidget with, and it did its job of keeping his hands away from his mouth. He could feel his gills flaring out, and forced himself to take a few deep breaths through his mouth, letting the gills shut. If he wasn’t careful, he’d need to spend a few hours in the bathtub, and that was never fun for anybody. Last time it had happened, it ended with a soaked Techno and a pissed off phil.   
A few hours later and a long time of scrolling through Twitter, Wilbur was pulled out of his thoughts by a knock on the door. He reached over to his bed-side table and tugged his beanie over his ear frills, and pulled hair down to curl around them just enough to make sure they were fully hidden.

“Who is it?” The door opened slowly to reveal techno. Wilbur caught the look on his pseudo brothers face. While Wilbur knew techno and Fundy had never been close, he knew that seeing someone else like them taken was causing techno anxiety. He patted the spot next to him as techno came in the room. “You okay, tech?” He asked. Techno sighed, but didn’t answer. Wilbur hummed. “That bad, huh?” Techno nodded. Wilbur wrapped an arm around the others’ shoulder and pulled him close. “It’ll be okay, you know.” He could feel techno shifting to his more pig-like form. “We’ll find Fundy, and we’ll be careful to make sure none of us get hurt while we do it.” Techno let out a quick breath.

“How’d you even hear about Fundy? S’ not like he can text.” Wilbur snorted. 

“He’s been staying with Niki and Eret, remember? They called me.” Techno nodded and Wilbur could feel his brother falling asleep. Wilbur let out a series of soft clicks and trills from the back of his throat, hoping to make his brother relax more. They were still in Wilbur’s room, but the siren gently pushed techno until he was laying back. “I know you haven’t been sleeping, tech.” Wilbur stood up and moved to the door. “Get some sleep, I’ll wake you up before dinner.”

An hour later, techno woke up slowly. He sighed at himself. He didn’t know Fundy very well, but he knew niki. The girl must be distraught, as Niki and Fundy had been close friends. Well, as close as a literal fox and a glow stick could be. Techno got up and moved downstairs, ready to mindlessly munch on some grass. Hey, don’t judge him. It’s relaxing. He entered the living room to see Phil folding laundry and Tom stuck under a laundry basket, held down by Phil using it as a footrest. Tom was trying to swipe at Phil through the gaps to no avail. Techno snorted. “What’d he do now?” Phil looked up with a smile.

“He’s been imprisoned for swiping at my ankles while I sort clothes.” Techno nodded thoughtfully right as Wilbur came into the room and let out a cry at seeing his cat in jail. Techno hummed.

“I feel no sympathy for this prisoner.” Wilbur cried out again.

“No! Poor baby!” Techno nudged the basket with his foot.   
“Bastard.” Wilbur’s hands met his beanie as the man flopped onto the floor.

“No! Don’t be mean.” Phil didn’t look up from sorting socks when he spoke. 

“Naughty boy. Brat cat.”

Wilbur sounded like he would strangle somebody for Tom. “No!”

_Everything seemed blurry. “Mom?” “Go back to your room, honey.” His mother was on the armchair, with three strange men on the couch. One of them was wearing a green striped suit like that evil guy from the Lorax movie. He would not go back to his room, not until he knew what was happening. He hid around the wall. “We know you’re scared, and you don’t know what’s happening. We understand, and we want you to know that we can help.” His mother nodded. “Thank you. It’s... it’s so strange! What’s happening to him?” The suited man hummed softly, and clasped his hands together on his lap. “We have a few cases similar to his, back at our facility. If you would let us take him there, he could stay with us for a few months,_ _and then he’ll come right back home! We can do a few tests, and see what we come back with.” He watched as his mother nodded. He pouted from around the corner. He didn’t want to leave his mom. “I would really appreciate that. I just want to make sure he can live a normal life, and that he isn’t a danger to himself or others.” The man chuckled. “He will live the most normal life possible, after we can figure out what exactly is wrong.” The man leaned his neck to look out the window. “In fact, we have a van outside right now. We could take him today? Only if that’s okay with you, of course?” He watched with shock as his mother nodded again. She was just letting him_ _go with these strange people? “Thank you so much, Doctor. I’ll go get him now.” He scampered back to his room, sitting on the floor and playing with his truck in an effort to look normal. His mother opened the door. “Honey, you’re gonna need to pack a few things, you’re going on a trip. They’re going to help figure out what’s happening to you, okay?” He shook his head. “No!” His mother frowned. “Come on. It’s only gonna be for a little bit.” The man came down the hall and crouched down so they were eye level. “Heya. I know it’s scary, but we just want to help you.” He watched as the man’s face distorted and he repeated the same words over and over. “We just want to help you. We just want to help you. We just want to-“_

Tom jolted awake when something touched the top of his head. He jumped out of his cat bed, and stared at Phil, who’s hand was outstretched to him. “Poor guy.” Phil frowned. Wilbur called out from across the room. “What? Is he okay?” Phil nodded, and reached forward to pet him again. Reluctantly, Tom let him. “He’s okay,” said Phil. “I think he was having a nightmare.” Wilbur shifted on the couch. “Can cats have nightmares? What would cats have nightmares about?” Phil shrugged and Tom stood up, ready to lounge on the Prime Path for a few hours, maybe lay in an inconvenient spot to soak up some sunlight. “You did find him on the street, maybe he had a bad owner before us?” Tom zoned out from their conversation as he padded down the hallway to Techno’s room. He didn’t want to hear them guess what’d happened to him, and he also wanted to bat around one of technos fencing swords for a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Also, did I imply ace Wilbur? Maybe.   
> Tumblr: gurtlikesdreamsmp  
> Maybe leave a comment?   
> ALSO THANKS FOR 10K


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ochokinode! Thank you for the comment about getting italics and stuff in html, but i am a feeble smooth brain that probably can’t do those commands. I might try it though, so thanks!   
> (Also thank you guys for 12k)   
> If anything ever seems rushed, or unorganized, or messy, tell me! The first chapter of this story was a one shot sitting in my notes for months, I did not have any plans to continue it, so almost everything beyond that is improv that I came up with on the spot.

Fundy paced in his cell.   
“Why havent you left yet! I escaped years ago, and you promised you’d be right behind me! And then I never saw you again.” 

The half and half man sighed and sat down in front of the glass.   
“I know.” 

“You’ve got Dream wrapped around your finger, are you just too scared to leave?” 

“Fundy-“ 

“Or what? Do you like it here? Where were you when I was out on the streets? Before Eret and Niki found me?” 

“Fundy!” The fox fell quiet. “I haven’t left because it’s better if I stay here. If I leave, I wouldn’t be able to help others get out.” The man ran a hand through his hair, before pulling on the lapels of his dual colored trench coat. It always suffocated him in stressful situations. “Dream’s smart. You yourself have seen him in multiple places at once, you know he’s always a step ahead of anyone here.”   
They sat in silence for a moment before He continued, pulling off his glasses to look Fundy in the eyes properly.   
“If I run, I will be caught. I will be contained, and every other person within these walls won’t get a chance to escape.”  
Fundy paused his pacing to sit down. 

“I’m sorry.” Fundy’s ears were down. The man sighed. 

“I know. It’s okay. I just have to keep this up a little longer, until those people you talked about can take the facility down.” They sat in silence for a little longer, before the man scrambled up at the sound  
of footsteps.   
He nodded to the men coming down the hall. 

“Good morning,” he said.   
They nodded back, and one of them stopped.   
“Ranboo, the doctor needs you within the hour.”   
The half and half man, Ranboo, nodded.  
“Thank you.” The man went on his way. Ranboo turned his head back to Fundy.   
“Two bottle caps says I can get you extra food today.” Fundy disappeared from the view of the glass for a moment before coming back with the payment in his mouth. The fox dropped it and nudged it through a gap close to the floor.   
Ranboo bent down to scoop them up and hide them in his side. He then dug around for a moment before he pulled out a small chicken breast from within his body and slid it through the gap. Ranboo smiled fondly when fundy immediately dug in. “Pleasure doing business with you.” 

Fundy grunted at him around a mouthful of food.   
“Stay safe, double check the colors of whatever he gives you,” Ranboo nodded, and left to go to George’s office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter, Ranboo has officially been added to the character roster! So has Dream, I suppose. For being the owner of a laboratory that studies and basically kidnaps magical people, he might not be entirely human himself.   
> I’ve seen a few questions in the comments, and I posted a comment about it, but I figured I’d talk about it here so that more people saw it.   
> SBI are all shifters, but Tommy doesn’t know that, because it doesn’t hurt or affect SBI to keep those traits in. They don’t let them out often in the house, because they figure it’s best to get used to being mainly human.   
> Tubbo is in the story! Just not yet.   
> Fundy is literally just a fox with human-level intelligence. Not even a human-fox shifter, literally just a fox that the head doctor(that will be introduced later) got their hands on.   
> Niki is a glow stick. Don’t ask why, I’m not sure. Niki plays a bigger role in the story later on!   
> If you have any other questions, just ask, and if anyone had any art or anything (cough please id be so happy cough) please tell/show me!   
> Tumblr: gurtlikesdreamsmp   
> Sorry for the long notes!!! Had a lot to say


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mr cat boy is oblivious as fuck   
> It’s kind of frustrating to read miscommunication as a plot device, trust me I know, and I apologize

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!!   
> Hope you like this chapter, we’ve finally started to hit the goldmine of plot   
> Maybe leave a comment? 👉👈  
> They make the happy chemical go brrrr

Tom was feeling good this week.   
It had been calm, and quiet, and no interruptions to anything he was doing. (Not to say he didn’t interrupt others, but that’s besides the point)   
And maybe he’d change his mind once he was in less of a good mood, but he’d enjoy the calm while it lasted. (In the Watson household that was never long.) 

Tom had also decided to tell them who he really was. He was going to tell his family.   
(Tom doubted himself whenever he thought of them like that. Did he deserve to call them family when they didn’t really know him?)   
But yeah. He was going to tell them. It was the week of Phil’s birthday, according to a conversation he’d overheard. Techno and Wilbur had been whispering about a present, he thinks. Wilbur had jokingly looked at Tom and told him to promise not to tell Phil. Techno rolled his eyes, and Tom felt guilt swirl inside him. He was lying to them, because they thought he was just some dumb house cat with a sprinkle of trauma. So yeah, he was going to tell them after Phil’s birthday, but within the week. He didn’t want to take the spotlight from Phil, but he wanted them to still be in a good mood when he came out about it.   
How he was going to tell them he had no clue, but that was future Tom’s problem. 

It was the day after Phil’s birthday, and he was going to tell them.   
It was... easier said than done, for sure. But he could do it. He was brave. He knew that they loved him, even if it wasn’t the real him.   
Tom was just waiting for them to come home and then... well... he could just turn human? That seemed too simple.   
He was pulled from his thoughts by Wilbur coming through the door.   
Huh. That was strange. Wilbur was almost always the last one home.   
Tom, from where he was sitting on the prime path, watched as Wilbur pulled out his phone and put it to his ear, then began to pace. He always paced when he was nervous. Tom wondered what had the man all shaky.   
Wilbur seemed relieved when someone picked up.   
“Tech, Phil messed up.” Wilbur paused. “Yeah. It was his wings. I don’t know what on earth happened to make them come out, but I saw it online.” Tom tilted his head at the mention of wings. “Something about a very impressive cosplay, can you come home early.” It wasn’t a question.   
Tom jumped down and nudged Wilbur’s legs, only for the man to ignore him.   
“Thank you. See you soon.” Wilbur put the phone back in his pocket, and collapsed into the couch, arms on his knees. Tom jumped up beside him and head butted Wilbur’s arm. Wilbur looked down at him and smiled softly.   
“Hey Tom.” Wilbur ran a hand over his fur, and Tom arched into it with a purr. “I know you can’t really understand me, but I’m stressed and I need to vent.” Tom put a paw on Wilbur’s leg, and the man laughed. “Glad someone’s here for me.” Wilbur sighed. “Anyways, Phil got caught with his wings out.” Tom froze as his claws dug into the couch. Wilbur didn’t seem to notice, and kept going. “I know, it’s confusing. He’s been so good about keeping them in that you would think he wouldn’t slip up.” Tom suddenly wasn’t hearing Wilbur anymore, and was lost in his thoughts.   
Phil had wings? How did he hide them? Why hadn’t Tom seen?   
He wanted to laugh. Of course. He’d been so careful about not showing them his magical side, only for the head of the house to have wings. What a coincidence. 

He was yet again pulled from his inner turmoil when the door slammed open, and techno barreled in.   
“Wilbur?!” Wilbur shot up and ran to techno, colliding into him. Tom watched over the back of the couch as they whispered a few words to each other, and pulled apart to hold each other at arms’ length.   
“What are we going to do?” Techno’s words were quiet, but Tom caught them.   
“We plan.” Said Wilbur. “We’ve done it once, who’s to say we can’t do it again?” Techno looked beyond worried.   
“But... that was so long ago, and last time we had Phil.”   
Tom crawled up to the back of the couch and meowed at them. They kept speaking, and Tom huffed. If he could just show them what he was now, then they could all work together to save Phil.   
But they were ignoring him.   
He yowled, and they just turned and went up the stairs.   
Tom wanted to scream. He was trying to show them!   
(It wouldn’t occur to him until later that he could have just shifted to a human form without the dramatics.)   
He followed them, only to get a door shut in his face.   
Wilbur’s voice came from the other side.   
“Sorry Tom, not right now.”   
(It also didn’t occur to him he could just shift and open the door.)   
He growled under his breath and went back to the living room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, always tell me if things are confusing or if you have questions. I like answering them, because sometimes they help me figure out any holes in the story   
> I’m also gonna not post on time next week? Probably? We’ll see, I just want to truly hammer out some things I think could be fixed   
> Tumblr: gurtlikesdreamsmp


	9. not a chapter, sorry

Hello! 

As of right now, I have to pause my writing on this story. I have a wrist injury that’s keeping me in a brace, and it makes it difficult to write, as well as the fact that it hurts. I can still answer comments or any asks on tumblr, but I can’t do extended writing, like for this story. 

I will try to pick up this story as soon as possible, but I wanna take care of myself first.   
While I’m here, is there anything you guys wanna see? I’m open for suggestions, since I still don’t quite have a set in stone ending. Any characters, events, settings, etc you wanna see and I’ll think about adding it! I love hearing ideas!

I’m glad you guys have enjoyed the story so far, and I’m not sure when I’ll be back, but I hope everyone does well until then. 

Thank you!  
-Gurt/eclipsewatcher

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :) thank you guys!!!   
> Tumblr: gurtlikesdreamsmp   
> ALSO WE HIT 15K :D


	10. Chapter but also important thingie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uhhh so I went to a doctors office for my wrist, and I got put on total rest! I now have a very stiff brace and I’m not allowed to use it. I am currently typing this with my left hand. 
> 
> Doctors orders: as of February 23, I am in this new brace for 6-8 weeks. This means the story will be on break for longer than I thought it would be. 
> 
> I might put out extra bits or short chapters that I write with one hand, but this one will be the only one for a little while.
> 
> Here’s a little bit about a new character!!!

They were stuck. Only one of them had gotten out, and they had lost connection as soon as the box closed. 

The box was horrid. It made them have to actually speak to one another. It was strange, after so long of just being able to hear everyone whenever they wanted to say something. 

They only became one solid train of thought when they became human. But none of them preferred that form. It was clunky, and harder to dodge things. It made people ask questions.   
If it meant they got to leave the box, they would become human again. If, on some odd chance, the man with the goggles came to the box and said “we will let you out if you stay in a human form” they would take the offer in a heartbeat.  
Someone in one of the corners did what to others could be considered a groan. Someone else snapped at them to shut up, because they were all in the same situation. 

They were all trapped. 

They just wanted to be a hive mind again. Something in how the box was made prevented that. They just wanted to exist, without having to physically speak to each other. 

They wanted out of this stupid fucking box.   
So they took a moment, focused, and became one solid form. It was a little cramped, but it gave them a voice that others could hear.   
They’d already tried this a couple of times. It never worked, but they always kept trying. 

“Hello?” They screamed, multiple voices speaking at once until they-no, he, now, became one. “Let me out!” He banged a fist against the side of the box. Maybe he could annoy someone into opening it. “Hey! I know someone can hear us-me!”the space outside the box was silent, until he heard light footsteps.   
“Hey! I hear you! Open the box!” 

The footsteps stopped, and a voice started.   
“Um... hello?” The voice was soft, and nervous. 

“Let me out.” He growled, banging his fist until he was sure there were bruises.   
Not that he could see, because he was inside of a pitch black fucking box.

“I could let you out... but I’m not allowed to. Is there anything you could pay me with? I might be more willing to help you if you could give me something?”   
He stopped in his tracks. What? Pay? 

Oh right, that was a human term.

“Why?” 

The voice cleared its throat.  
“Well. That’s my sorta... thing? I help the creatures here, if they can pay me something.” The voice hummed. “Could be anything, really. Once I got a ball of lint” 

He looked down at himself, which he quickly reprimanded himself for. Right, pitch black. Maybe he had something in his pockets? 

Nope. Empty. He gulped. He needed to get out of this box, and he didn’t have anything to get him there.  
Maybe... maybe he could lie?

“Yeah. I’ve got some... stuff?” God, he was the worst liar.  
There was silence outside the box. The voice hummed again. 

“You sure? The way you said it doesn’t really inspire confidence.”   
He sighed. Looks like he wasn’t getting out anytime soon.

“I don’t have anything.”   
The voice hummed.

“Okay... I can’t really do anything for you then, sorry.” He assumed the voice was walking away, because the footsteps started up again, except this time they were getting farther away.   
He sighed. There was no point staying in this form.

They separated, and all tried to go to their own corners.   
They argued a lot, but there was one thing they could all agree on.   
This fucking sucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not the most proud of this, but it was with one hand, so it was slow.   
> Don’t expect a lot out of me, I was just itching to write.   
> New character!!!! Who do you think it is?  
> Thanks!  
> Tumblr: gurtlikesdreamsmp


End file.
